Kensington.

Lawngirl

Lawngirl was one of three bands that were showcasing their new material in front of a Kensington Market audience. This show was put on by Alex who loves to promote unique Indy artists. This was a night filled with them.

Lawngirl is a band that started out with a very mellow sound and chose to use spoken word to open up the show. I found this pretty good timing ever since William Shatner decided to do spoken word at a heavy metal festival last weekend in Chicago. It was quite the sight see the SHAT doing his version of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and the crowd really enjoying it.

The unfortunate opening suffered as it was impossible to hear what the band was saying.  When they changed to a new singer, it was very clear that the sound was going to be unforgiving.

From the sound that this band was putting out, it was filled with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Maybe this was the purpose of the quiet vocals.  

When they reached the 3^rd song the band added a real sense of discord with some odd sounds coming forth.  This continued isolation now felt like being alone in your bedroom for a long period of time and hoping your door was locked for safety issues. Was this a safe space?

They continued down this same path with a moment where they may have felt like they needed to speak up and decided to stay contained and safe.

It was a show I was not familiar with, but I am sure there are people who do understand these emotions and would gravitate towards a band that could help them to feel, not so isolated.

This is Lawngirl-

Group Therapy

Ironically, after experiencing those emotions, I guess I was ready for some Group Therapy. I was told these bands musical style is known as Shoegaze. These usually are bands that look down at the floor when they play versus those who look the audience in the face while they play. It was funny to see the Bass player take off his shoes at the beginning of the set and put it to the side. I guess he needed a place to look when he was playing.

From the beginning I was really enjoying the interplay between the two guitarists on stage. While one was out crafting a cool solo, the other was scratching her guitar as if it was full of mosquito bites. This odd way of crafting a new style, I found fascinating.

Even in the next song, the rhythm section seemed to be speeding along at a good pace, while the two guitarists played at a slower speed. It was like they were skating on top but taking their time doing it. This I also found fascinating.

There overall sound has a dreamy quality that just opens up the drapes just enough to see what is going on, but you can’t see the full picture. This gave me enough room to sit with this and interpret my personal reality as I saw fit. Fascinating.

During the set Jordan, who is one of the guitar players, let us know this was his first gig with this band. If I could add my 2 cents, I would say they made a great choice. Jordan will bring a new dimension to this group. I don’t know who they were with the last guitar player, but this new line-up has a unique way of presenting themselves. I will have to keep a watch on what this band is capable in the future.

They finished with a nice and slow epic sound that stayed with me after they were done their set.

This is Group Therapy-

Alone Kitty

Alone Kitty finished the evening with 3 chords of Sonic Rock. They are not punks but have that gritty Grunge feeling oozing and dripping disharmony all over the stage and onto the floor. The band creates this slow buildup of white noise that assaults your lonely skull just to keep it company.

As they dove deeper into this sludge, they added that feeling of withering away. It is that feeling of dread when the season’s temperature drops quickly and you know life will only become colder, harsher and bitter.

This band can create those real feeling of disappointment and yet add that sense of determination at the same time.  It was interesting to feel opposing thoughts clash and unite simultaneously.  Picture the vileness of a burnt-out basement and looking and finding oxygen at the same time. They add a sense of replenishment amongst the chaos you struggle against.

They finally played their new song, which by the way will be released on November 6^th. Externally they expressed sonic torment while they expressed inner turmoil. They seem to have a duality attached to their sound. I am sure I was not alone in those moments; the audience seems to understand this too.

This is Alone Kitty-

If you would like to learn more about these bands here are some Instagram accounts you should check out.

www.instagram.com/joingrouptherapy/

www.instagram.com/alonekittytoronto/

www.instagram.com/spinclasslocal/  This was the promoter for this particular show. Alex is a warrior when it comes to getting these artists a stage to perform on.

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